The House of Representatives (HoR) on Sunday passed the Federal Civil Service Bill, 2082, incorporating a dozen new provisions aimed at restructuring the federal bureaucracy.

The Bill, which had remained under parliamentary consideration for the past one and a half years, introduces a two-year cooling-off period that bars retired civil servants from assuming public posts—such as constitutional and diplomatic appointments —immediately after retirement. This provision sparked heated debates among lawmakers and senior bureaucrats, with many officials lobbying against the move to safeguard their post-retirement prospects.

The Bill also revises several key aspects of civil service regulation, including the retirement age, recruitment procedures, and the terms for high-level administrative positions. The current retirement age has been extended from 58 to 60 years, to be implemented in a phased manner: those retiring in the first fiscal year after enactment will retire at 58, the following year at 59, and finally at 60 in the third fiscal year.

Another notable change is the removal of open competition recruitment for Joint Secretary positions (gazetted first class officer). Under the new provision, open competition will now be limited to posts up to Undersecretary (gazetted second class officer). The Bill also introduces the post of Additional Secretary in the federal bureaucracy.

The upper age limit for women candidates has been reduced by one year, from 40 to 39.

The State Affairs Committee of the HoR conducted multiple rounds of discussions on key elements of the Bill to align it with the federal administrative framework.

The Bill will now be forwarded to the National Assembly for further deliberation. Once approved by the upper house, it will require authentication by the President before being published in the Nepal Gazette.

Lawmakers participating in Sunday’s discussion included Rekha Sharma, Prem Suwal, Prakash Jwala, Mahendra Bahadur Shahi, Janardan Sharma, Aman Lal Modi, Ranendra Baraili, and Prabhu Sah, among others.

Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration Raj Kumar Gupta tabled the proposal for the Bill’s passage. -- RSS